PhoneBoy Says

I followed through on previous threats and I've moved my personal blog onto 10 Centuries. Thanks to some handiwork by Jason, other than the temporary DNS hiccups that occur with these changes, you shouldn't notice a thing. All the previous URLs should work as before.

The one benefit I get from the current 10 Centuries platform is that, when you search on this site, it will also search all of my App.Net postings (which I've had quite a lot of) as well as recent tweets (starting from around 20 November 2014). Hopefully when Jason gets 10Cv3 launched, I'll be able to import my entire Twitter archive and have that searchable as well.

Another benefit with this new arrangement is that it allows me to blog using App.Net private messages, which ends up being fairly convenient as I can use Drafts to craft the post and send it to Chimp, which will get it to 10 Centuries. The downside to that approach is I'm limited to 2,048 characters which isn't the end of the world.

Meanwhile I posted several blog posts in anticipation of having my blog moved over to 10 Centuries. I didn't advertise them because the URL for those posts were going to change, so I just wrote them and figured I'd let folks know about them once the changeover occured. If you care, here they are:

• Amazing What Blog Posts Get Traction
• Going All In With 10 Centuries
• So Yeah, That Cough I Have
• The 49ers "Crisis"
• Zen and The Art of Blood Sugar Maintenance
• Oh Christmas Tree
• The Green Pill
• It's The End of the Season As We Know It And I Feel Fine

Meanwhile a few of my other blogs will also move over to the 10 Centuries platform in the very near future.

As I expected, the 49ers lost to Seattle in Seattle. And since Detroit won, the 49ers are out of the NFL playoff picture for 2014. And you know what? I feel fine.

Sure, I would have loved to see the 49ers compete for another Lombardi trophy, but the Quest for Six will have to wait another year. With all the injuries suffered during the Seahawks game, the penalties (some questionable), and the poor execution and play calling, it just wasn't meant to be.

I came to terms with the fact the 49ers weren't making the playoffs last week after the Raiders loss. Given how bad the Raiders have played this year, there was no reason they shouldn't have walked out of O.co Colosseum with a win.

Of course, as much as I enjoy watching the 49ers win, and I occasionally feel depressed when they lose, I have to remember: it's just a game. Whether they win or lose, it does not materially change my life. I still have my family, my health (which is generally improving), and everything else that's important. It also doesn't change my faith in the team.

I'll enjoy the last two 49er games of the season and go back to whatever it is I do when it's not football season, which is: live my life.

When I asked my doctor for different medication for my high blood pressure, he gave me Losartan. As usual, the potential side effects [www.drugs.com] are always a frightening read, making me wish I had taken better care of myself when I was younger.

One of the side effects listed there, of course, is a cough, very much like the cough I have when taking Lisinopril. I still have it, but it seems better than before. Still have to drink a bit of water to keep from coughing too much.

Unfortunately it takes a while for the drugs to reach their full effect and I can already see my blood pressure numbers creeping back up while my body adjusts to the new medication.

On the plus side, my blood sugar has been below 100 mg/dL for the last few days. At least that's going right.

It's that time of the year when, at least in this part of the world, many people are putting up their Christmas trees. Personally, I could do without Christmas, but the family likes it.

To be perfectly honest; I don't remember too many Christmas trees as a young child. Oh sure they were there most years. Because I was with my mom one year and my dad the next and they both moved regularly, there just wasn't anything I could consistently remember.

I did remember a couple of trees from Hawaii. Typically, an evergreen-type tree is used for this, but those are exceptionally hard to come by in Hawaii. And they were pretty expensive. While we did a "Christmas Palm" a couple of years, my stepfather "won" a real Christmas tree one year, which of course we put up. But beyond some lights and maybe a few ornaments, none of which I remember particularly, that was that.

Now, with a family, we have boxes of ornaments that my wife has acquired or the kids have made for us over the years. Surely, there are memories associated with each one for my wife and/or kids. I recognize most of the ornaments, of course, but most of them hold little memories for me and just feel overwhelmed by the whole thing.

Maybe forgetting all the Christmas trees is my coping mechanism for that…

One of the rules of diabetes club is: blood sugar readings don't always make sense.

Like today, both of my blood sugar readings were under 100 mg/dL. I'm certainly not eating no carbs but I'm not pigging out on them either.

The treadmill my wife found from someone who lives a couple streets away was a real find at $20. It's not in the best shape but it works. This means I can walk indoors when the elements are working against me outdoors. I walked a good 40 minutes today, worked up a nice sweat, and was able to proceed straight to the shower.

I even ended the day well below my target calorie range. Not intentionally but that's how it seems to have worked out.

All in all its been a good day for my blood sugar. Maybe today is a reflection of the good work I've been doing to manage it. I'm hoping numbers in this ballpark are the new normal.

Many of us 49ers fans have high expectations for the team. It comes with the rich legacy the team has had, not to mention the last few years where the 49ers were in the NFC Championship game and a Super Bowl. No, the Lombardi trophy was not brought back to the Bay Area in 2012 (first loss in a Super Bowl), but still, there is an expectation among 49ers fans that the team is usually in the playoff hunt.

Of course, that ignores the fact that a lot of the playoff activity was in the 1980s and 1990s. The 2000s, quite frankly, were terrible. I wasn't football aware in the 1970s, and wasn't alive before that, so I can't comment much on that.

This year, 2014, the team is not doing so well. Not by most teams standards, of course, who would probably be really happy with a 7-5 record, but by 49ers standards, it's not so great. The offense is absolutely anemic this year. The 7 wins this year has occurred because the defense has been nothing short of outstanding, despite all the talent currently on injured reserve (Bowman, Willis, etc). Special teams is also not that special right now.

Among 49er fans, there is a lot of finger pointing about who is to blame. The most vocal bunch are ones who are clamoring for the firing of offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Some are starting to blame head coach Jim Harbaugh. There's also folks calling for the replacement of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

I'm in none of those camps, at least not yet. Unlike a lot of fans, I remember that, even during the dynasty years, the 49ers played some really bad football games. Yes, five Superbowls were won, but 13 playoff games were lost between the years of 1981 and 2002. A few of those losses were ugly, too.

And then there was the 1991 season where, despite a 10-6 record, the 49ers didn't make the playoffs at all. I don't recall anyone demanding that then head coach George Siefert or then offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren be fired, but of course this was before the Internet Outrage Machine existed. Beyond the newspapers and the conversations you had with your friends, this kind of rhetoric was simply hard to come by. That said, Mike Holgrem went onto coach the Green Bay Packers the following year.

I know we are all passionate about this team, we want them to win, and we all think we know the best way to make that happen. The fact is, the 49ers will not necessary hear, or do, anything we say. The team at all levels is very aware of their situation with respect to making the playoffs. They understand what is at stake and they understand they must execute at the highest level from here on out to have a shot at a Lombardi.

And if they don't win? Changes will surely be made for next year in order to improve the 49ers chances for a Lombardi. Even if they do win, changes will be made next year because of the draft, injuries, free agency, or whatever. Either way, things will change next year. Arguing over the minutia of what those changes should be? Not my thing, personally.

Meanwhile, I'm not worried about the "crisis." I'm looking forward to the next game.

I've had this little cough for the last month or so. Seems like my throat is occasionally dry. Sometimes it turns into a coughing fit, which is quite unpleasant.

My wife pointed this out to me today and told me it was a common side effect of Lisinopril, the drug I'm taking to lower my old pressure. Sure enough, it is [www.everydayhealth.com]:

Common side effects of lisinopril include:

• Cough
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Extreme tiredness
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Weakness
• Sneezing
• Runny nose
• Low sex drive
• Rash

Serious side effects can also occur. If you have any of these side effects, call your doctor right away:

• Swelling of the face, throat, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
• Hoarseness
• Trouble breathing or swallowing
• Signs of infection, such as fever, sore throat, and chills
• Yellowing of the skin or eyes
• Lightheadedness or fainting
• Chest pain

So yeah, I should get that cough checked and my meds changed.

It seems every few years or so I get tired of whatever blogging or content management system I've been using and I try something else. And, of course, every time I do it, I swear this is the last time I'm doing this.

And yet I do it. Again and again and again. I've actually lost track of everything I've tried, but it included the ever popular Wordpress and I'm even using Jekyll for my main phoneboy.com site because it gave me the most control with the least server overhead.

But it sucks, it all does. And quite frankly, I have better things to do with my time than to try and move things between various content management systems, which have all sucked in various ways.

Ignoring the content management systems themselves for a moment, let's also look at the cost. Sure there are "free" services out there, but do you want someone else's ads all over your content? Do you trust that company will be around in a few years? Do you trust what that company might do with your data?

And while I'm thinking of conventional blog-like content, I'm also thinking of microblogging content. I've put quite a lot of data into Twitter and App.Net over the last several years. Who knows how Twitter will change their Terms of Service or their public API to the point where I'll even want to use the service anymore. And App.Net? It was a nice idea but, sadly, the lights may still be on there, but it's hard to know if anyone's home or not.

And Facebook? I don't even know what to say there, but I've given up trying to manage my privacy settings on Facebook. I just assume everything I post there is public. I also try and post as little content there as possible, as I know it's basically a roach motel.

Basically, I'm tired of it all. I just want to put all my stuff in one place, have it go everywhere everyone else is, and at the end of day, know that I have control over the original copy of said content and actually own it, unlike with the other services, that is not entirely clear.

Have you heard of 10Centuries? Unless you've been on App.Net, you've probably never heard of it. The mission of 10Centuries is simple: "ensuring all of our content is readily available and readable by future generations." And no ads. Ever. Those are principles I can get behind.

Will it last 10 centuries as the name implies? Who knows. I know nothing lasts forever, especially anything that man makes. But I gotta respect someone with the gumption to try.

10Centuries will handle most of my blogging needs for the time being, which are pretty meager. What about the social networks? Version 3 of 10Centuries will hopefully solve some of those pain points once released. Meanwhile, I can import all my Twitter and App.Net stuff so it's searchable on this site.

Hopefully, in a few days, most of the blogs I have on Posthaven will move over to 10Centuries. I have a couple of other, static websites that are not appropriate for 10 Centuries. I opted to move those off of Dreamhost and onto 123systems, which has a reasonably cheap CPanel type hosting setup for websites and email as well as a virtual private system which will host phoneboy.com. Amazon will be my backup solution of choice, mostly because of the pricing on Glacier, but the flexibility of S3 is also a bonus.

So I guess I'm not going all in with 10Centuries, but I'm certainly consolidating and 10Centuries is part of my plan.

I'm looking to move some of my blogs over to the 10 Centuries platform and, for kicks, I decided to look through the hit counts on some of my blog posts on my personal blog, currently hosted at Posthaven. A number of posts had a high hit count from when they existed at Posterous, which is where I imported some of the posts from. But a couple really got some traction:

• Podcasts I Don't Love From People I Don't Trust, my blog post where I outline my reasons for no longer listening to anything produced by Leo Laporte and the guys from TWiT.
• The Leo Laporte "Affair" wherein I discuss Leo Laporte's errors in judgement that made his love life public.
• A Shoebox of Memories wherein I discuss a few of the memories my wife brought back from my mother's place.
• Sunday Evening Skyline in Tel Aviv which is just a picture--oddly got a lot of views.

Most of the other page views I see were old, so I don't believe their page view counts.

My doctor had originally prescribed me the Accu-Chek Aviva Plus Glucometer to check my blood sugar. It's a good enough device, but with it, it didn't take me long to learn the dark secret of diabetes monitoring.

Namely, that these devices are sold under the Gillette model. Except rather than give away the razors and make money off the blades, it's glucometers and test strips. Same idea, though.

The Accu-Chek Aviva strips cost me $25 for 50. And that's after the insurance pays their share (whatever it is). If I want to get more, say, before a long trip and I'm not "due" for more, well, I have to fight with the insurance company to get them at that price or pay the out-of-pocket cost, which is a hell of a lot more than $25.

Needless to say, I was looking for a cheaper solution. Also, it'd be nice if I could get something that would also send the data right to my iPhone where I'm tracking it.

Enter iHealth Labs. They actually two Glucometers: one">http://ihealthlabs.com/glucometer/wireless-smart-gluco-monitoring-system/">one that is Bluetooth enabled, and one">http://ihealthlabs.com/glucometer/ihealth-align/">one that just plugs into the headphone port on the iPhone (they also work with Android devices too). Since I didn't always want to be tied to my iPhone when checking my blood glucose, I opted for the slightly more expensive wireless model.

That's all fine and good, but what really attracted me to these glucometers: the price of the strips. At $12.50 for a box of 50 (two vials of 25 each), it's half the price of what my Accu-Check Aviva strips cost. Better yet, I don't have to deal with my insurance company if I need more, I can just order them from iHealth Labs and they'll arrive in a few days.

I ordered a new iHealth Wireless Smart Gluco-Monitoring System and a couple boxes of test strips in early November. Given they are based in Mountain View, CA and ship UPS Ground, it only took a few days to ship once the items came in stock which I knew when I ordered. I ordered before my recent trip to South Africa, so the "extra long" shipping time wasn't an issue for me.

When the meter and strips arrived, I of course tested myself using both meters. The iHealth one was giving me very different results. When I looked at the strips a bit more closely, I noticed that the strips I had been shipped were going to expire on 2 January 2015--less than 60 days away.

Another dark secret of blood glucose meters: they're not as accurate as, say, a blood test. They are good for getting a general idea of where your blood sugar is at, which is the reason your doctor tells you to use one. That said, different meters should give you similar results (within a few mg/dL of each other). When they're off by tens of mg/dL as I was seeing, something is probably wrong.

Given where my blood glucose is averaging, which is 117 mg/dL over a 30 day period, consistently higher test results could mean I test ok on the iHealth meter when, in fact, my blood sugar is actually at hypoglycemic levels.

I contacted iHealth Labs customer service via email. I asked for a bottle of the control solution, which is used to verify the meter and strips are working correctly (it has a set amount of glucose in it) and a box of strips with a later expiration date since there was no way I could use the strips I had ordered before they expired. I got a return email saying both should arrive in a few days.

Meanwhile I continued to periodically test with both my Accu-Chek and the iHealth meter. The iHealth results were consistently at least 20 points higher than my Accu-Chek, sometimes much higher.

I finally got the new box of strips in the mail today, but no control solution. My Accu-Chek strips are starting to run out and I really don't want to get another vial of those at $25 a pop, so I decided to test with iHealth using a strip from the new box I just received to see if it's a problem with the strips I had originally received.

On this test, the iHealth result was about 5 mg/dL lower than the Accu-Chek one. I tested with strips from both of the older boxes of iHealth test strips and the results were more than 40 points higher than the Accu-Chek number. This suggests I got a bad batch of test strips.

I just sent another email to iHealth Labs customer service. Hopefully they'll send me another box of strips and, this time, a bottle of the control solution.

Bottom line: if you're going to change blood glucose meters for one reason or another, make sure you test with both meters for a while to ensure the results are similar before completely ditching your old meter. Also, make sure to get the control solution for your meter.

I plan on doing a full review of the iHealth Wireless Smart Gluco-Monitoring System on a future episode of PhoneBoy">http://phoneboy.com/ps/">PhoneBoy Speaks.